Friday, October 28, 2011

ILWU Members and Retirees Are calling for full labor support forOccupy Oakland

DEFEND OCCUPY OAKLAND WITH THE MUSCLE OF ORGANIZED LABOR

Demonstrators in downtown Oakland protesting the bank-driven economiccrisis were brutally attacked by police from 18 Bay Area agencies on TuesdayOct. 25. Mayor Quan, who was supported by ILWU Local 10 in the recentelections, ordered this bloody assault. Cops used potentially lethalweapons to break up the occupation of Frank Ogawa (now renamed OscarGrant) Plaza just as they did in the port against anti-war protesters in2003. That police attack was even criticized by the UN Human RightsCommission and ended up costing Oakland over $2 million in civil suits.

Then-Local 10 longshoreman Billy Kepo'o was hit in the hand by a policetear gas canister causing a bloody mess. Now, Iraqi war vet, Scott Olsen,was hit in the head with a police projectile, causing a fracture andputting him in critical condition in Highland Hospital. This isexactly what killed one of the strikers in Seattle in the Big Strike of1934. That history of police violence against strikers is why our Local 10Constitution bans cops from membership in our union.

Last year, Local 10 shutdown all ports to protest the police killing ofyoung Oscar Grant. This year ILWU has been supporting Occupy Wall Street.Just last Monday the San Francisco Labor Council declared the Occupy SanFrancisco and Occupy Wall Street "sanctioned union strike lines" offeringthe protesters an umbrella of union protection.

ILWU is under attack from PMA employers, not just here in the port ofOakland but especially in Longview, Washington. Our jobs and the survivalof the ILWU as a fighting union are at stake. We heard the report of ourLongview Local 21 brothers at our union meeting last week and we pledgedoursolidarity, just as we did for other unions under attack, whether inCharleston, South Carolina or Madison, Wisconsin.

At the same time there is an outrage at the bankers and the capitalistcrisis which has caused massive hardship on the working class. OccupyOakland protesters have called for a General Strike on November2. Whether this actually means real strike action by workers depends inlarge part on union participation. Local 10 has always been in the lead inthe labor movement and all eyes are on us. As a first step, in defendingour union and others against economic and political repression, we need tomobilize our members to participate in the rally and occupation November 2in Oscar Grant Plaza. Shut it down!